Be a band like COLDPLAY

That is probably what most people would want, right? Well maybe not just COLDPLAY, maybe some of you who are in a band wants to be like METALLICA or whatever that you’re aspiring to be. It is okay for anyone to have a dream because that will drive us to work towards our vision; but then again we need to be realistic on what we’re trying to achieve. Now segi, we aspire just everybody else to be successful close to as our heroes; but the main question is how do we do it?

Most people would say you wont be able to do so; and we agree with them. Not everyday that a band like Coldplay, Metallica, or performing artist like Ed Sheeran or Beyonce comes to appear in the industry. That is why they are so successful and touring the world with thousands and thousands of followers in each of their show. There are lots of artists that appears in any music industry in the world on a daily bassist. That just means the market is growing bigger by the day for the consumers to pick and choose their next favorite artist. With the wave of electronic and modern pop music, it’s becoming tougher for a rock band to strive into the market; especially here in Malaysia.

So what do we do about it? Segi has no answer to this but we believe there are ways for an upcoming bands like us can go further in the music industry right now. It all starts with yourselves. Band members to be exact. How far are you willing to push and work for it. Most of these bands and artist starts their way long before you actually knows them as what they are. Yes some might be an exemption from what we’re talking about but we’re pretty sure they have to endure lots of hardships and sacrifice their time and money in their way to greatness. So are you ready to do that? Forget about long 8 hours of daily sleep at night, forget about your down time to play video games, forget about spending time with your loved one 24/7, forget about taking long vacations every now and then.

In the first few years, you’d have to focus on perfecting your skills and crafts to achieve a playing level that’s worthy to be in stadiums or big arenas. Your music and materials has to be up to par; at least to the level of your idols if not better. Learn your traits in music business and the people in it; plus you also have to make an effort in learning things that you’re not comfortable with. That is probably a big issue to most as some would say, why would I want to do something that I’m not comfortable in doing; I’m here to play my music. Yes you can say that, but you must also understand; those who are great before you has hundreds of great people around them and they’re already setting the standards at what they’re doing; while you’re not. So stop complaining and start working on it.

You don’t have to be the master of everything but it will be helpful if you know things that you’re not that great at. This is to help the process to move a little bit faster and better yet; a little bit more efficient. So you’ll spend lesser time experimenting just to fail. New bands and artists needs to be ready to suck at what they’re trying to do; and they must accept the fact that their level is not there yet. This will help them plant their feet closer to the ground while working their level up as much as possible. We are living on a digital age where information are much easier to be access. So why waste time not being on the net finding the information you need and work with those knowledge.

PLAN! Always be making plans that are achievable and at the same time; be realistic for it’s execution. Don’t be making plan to tour the whole country when you don’t even have a set of great songs on your setlist and not even distributing it well enough. How would people get on board your tours around the nation if they haven’t even heard of you let alone all your songs. Plan wisely by making small increment each week and make an effort to push it up a notch every time you and your band felt the last few plans felt too easy. Too much of a routine can ruin your development too; so make sure to mix up. In general, if you want to be sitting on the same level of your idols; be it a band or performing artist, make sure you’re doing it right rather than just making a song and putting it out there with hope you’ll get notice by a label.

Recap:
1- Commit together
2- Sacrifice your time
3- Keep on improving your skills
4- Learn the business inside and out
5- Networking
6- Get familiar with unfamiliar subjects
7- Make logical plan for short term and long term goal

Well at the end of the day, everything comes in a package; what we’re writing here are just a small portion of what we all can do to achieve a higher level with our music or band. The most basic thing to do right now is to make use of the social media platforms that we have and understand it to get the maximum effect from it. Segi is currently in the process of working on it’s new project to release it’s merchandise package that comes with new songs, t shirts, booklet and stickers; just for you. You’ll be a part of a very small community here in Malaysia that will get to have it first while we work on our digital paid release on iTunes. Be sure to take this chance to own it; in it’s physical form.